The Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 got underway on Thursday, March 26, with the opening match between Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The encounter garnered plenty of attention, but for all the wrong reasons. During the first innings of the game, when Lahore Qalandars, led by Shaheen Shah Afridi, batted, the cameras captured the ball colour changing from white to red, as the colour of the Hyderabad Kingsmen’s jersey came off and was reflected onto the ball.
As part of a common routine during cricket games, the Hyderabad Kingsmen were seen rubbing the ball onto their jerseys to make it shine. However, this led to the maroon dye from Hyderabad’s kit rubbing off on the white ball, giving it a slightly pinkish shade.
Even the fans picked up on this, and the Hyderabad Kingsmen were heavily trolled for it on X (formerly Twitter). Once the game came to an end on Thursday, Hyderabad Kingsmen skipper Marnus Labuschagne also reacted to the same, saying he had never seen something like that in his career.
The Australian batter also said that he hopes the issues will be sorted out in the upcoming few games.
“I mean, I did say to the umpires after the second over, ‘What’s going on? The ball is red.’ It must be from the clothes or something like that. I haven’t seen anything like that,” Labuschagne told reporters at the post-match press conference.
“I have seen a few times that there’s something on someone’s bat and it comes onto the ball, or it hits the pad and takes a bit of the paint off the pad, but I have never seen the clothes, so I am sure they will sort it out in the next few games,” he added.
Lahore Qalandars win
The opening match of PSL 2026 saw Lahore Qalandars win by 69 runs. Batting first, Lahore posted 199/4 in the allotted twenty overs, owing to a 53-run knock played by opening batter Fakhar Zaman. Haseebullah Khan also chipped in with an unbeaten 40-run knock off 28 balls to help Lahore post in excess of 190.
Ubaid Shah, Sikandar Raza and Haris Rauf then scalped two wickets each as Lahore bundled out Hyderabad for 130 in 20 overs, winning the match by 69 runs. Shaheen Afridi and Mustafizur Rahman also took one wicket each.
The PSL 2026 matches are being played behind closed doors due to the West Asia crisis. The matches have also been restricted to just two cities – Lahore and Karachi. The T20 tournament has lost several overseas players to the Indian Premier League (IPL) after many players were named as replacements for the upcoming 19th edition of the competition.